Palestiniana Jones

Jerusalem->Nazareth-->Haifa-->Nazareth-->Telaviv

2006-12-27T20:36:00.002+01:00

Jerusalem -> Nazareth 5th October 2006
Woke up at 7:00 am and after a quick shower he headed to the city centre to get a service taxi to Nazareth. At around 9:00am we were in Telaviv old Bus station and had to change to another taxi service to reach Nazareth. While waiting for the taxi to be full I decided to go into the station to use the toilets… which was not a good idea since for the second time I got lost in this crazy station that has like 2 or 3 toilets scattered around 4 floors and I don’t know how many square meters… one has to walk through a maze of corridors and stairs and to go back is hell… nobody can find the way at the first shot… so I was wandering around lost in the station for around 40 minutes and when I arrived the service had already left and Mohammed was waiting for me… to worsen things, the next service only got full one hour and a half later which made both me and Mohammed arrive late in Nazareth. And worst, I had to help prepare the restaurant for the second Ramadan night... happily it was the second time I was doing that and both me and Haitham had already a scheme to make things go fast.
By the time I arrived I was starving but since was Ramadan I decided to have only an Arabic coffee to get me going. Then it was time to wash the ground, clean the tables and prepare them for the guests. Then at around 16.30, we would have to start serving the first dishes until the very end when everybody would be done with dessert.
By the time we were finished, Haytham and his friends invited me to join them. They showed me a bit of Nazareth Ilit and we ended up in Alreda having a drink and talking. They were nice people to confirm the rule  and we had a nice evening together.

Nazareth/Haifa 6th October 2006
I went to the office early and started writing my update on the report… it was one of my last days to do so and I still wanted to go to the beach in Haifa that afternoon. I typed the whole morning, had lunch and espresso at the cafeteria downstairs. Continued typing and at around 15 o’clock I went home to get my beach shorts and I met Rula and Marlen in front of Tishreen.
We drove all the way to the Carmel beach and I went to a bath as soon as we arrived. The water is so impressively warm, so one can stay for ages there. As promised I showed some Capoeira moves to them and then we went to the chairs in the terrace and ate something and drunk a beer. It felt really good and these two women are fantastic.
Then, between going to the sea, chatting in the terrace and practicing Capoeira I met on of Haitham’s friends I was with the night before. He was with his family and they invited me for dinner, which I had to refuse since ii had already plans for that night 
Then, after a wonderful sunset we had a huge salad with some natural juice and we walked through the path that goes all across the beach all the way until the Le Meridien hotel almost and we went back… it was time for me to return to Nazareth since I had to meet Ana and her friends. At around 22.30 we arrived at Nazareth and the girls dropped me at home where I left my stuff and ran to Bayat where I found Ana together with some of her work colleagues. They have just finished a bottle of red wine, so we decided to go to some other place and chit chat for a bit. After discussion we decided to buy a bottle of red wine from the shop and head to my home.
So there we were, me, Ana, Dennis (an Irish volunteer) and two more guys that work with Ana. We had a really nice time together and reached the conclusion that we have already seen each other around before and we regretted that we didn’t meet before. Anyway I was decided to go to Haifa the next morning to get some final sun in my last day in Israel and Ana and Dennis decided to join me. Shortly after they all left and I went to bed.

Nazareth/Haifa --> Telaviv 7th October 2006
This turned out to be one of the days of my life, not because it was the last day of one of my lifetime experiences but because it was so emotional (no, I didn’t cry)…
Anyway, I woke up early so that I could meet Dennis and Ana in the Basilica and get the bus to Haifa. Once we arrived there (in the central train station) we realizes that it was some kind of holiday and the public buses were not working, so we had to walk a bit and get a service to the Carmel beach near the big Temple in the Hill. We walked up across a big street full of bars and cafes and it made me realize that I should have gotten a bit more out of my time in Israel… especially during the first week, during which I had lots of free time. After some time we got the service and we arrived at the beach at around 10:00 am. Basically I had 2 hours of sun and fun and then I would have to get back to Nazareth to meet Iyad and wrap up my work… the beach is phenomenal and I will never forget the time with Dennis and Ana there, especially the conversations I had with Dennis! So the time just flew until it was time for me to leave. So I left them looking to the beach and feeling already sorry that I wouldn’t see that in a near future!
I got a taxi to the station because I couldn’t risk loose the bus to Nazareth (the next was 2 hours after that). In the meantime the taxi driver picked another passenger and made a huge detour to drop him in some hotel in the top of the hill and to make it worse he was driving as if he had all the time in the world, which I didn’t have. So I told him to speed up when I had only 7 minutes to catch my bus and we were still in the top of the hill. Trying to rush we reached the station 1 minute after and I couldn’t see the bus anymore… he was entering the main road when I got out of the taxi running with my flip flops and waving and shouting at the bud driver… happily he heard me, stopped the bus and opened the door for me. I was the only passenger. One and a half hours later I was in Nazareth and I went directly to Life’s Headquarters where everybody was leaving… I didn’t have time really to wrap up so I went home, ate some fruit and spent the rest of the afternoon buying souvenirs and saying goodbye to Nazareth. Then I decided to go home again have a shower and head to the Basilica to pay a final visit. Once I arrived there I felt the usual goose bumps and I was very happy to be there once again and sad because I don’t know when my next visit would be… somehow I felt that part of me belongs there… really don’t know why… then a cascade of weird feelings followed… very strong, unexplainable feelings that just made me feel so odd that I felt like crying loud and clear like a little baby (maybe now I understand why I saw a girl a few days before doing that in front of the altar). I decided to control myself and I putted the rosaries I brought from Jerusalem in the Altar´s red cross craved on marble. That I knew by then would mean a lot to me in the future (it was already meaning a lot in the moment)…
I kept on controlling myself and the more I tried the more I felt like crying! My eyes got wet and a strong chocking pain installed in my throat… it was hard even to breathe… I decided to close my eyes… say thank you to God and I decided to talk to two Franciscan Monks that were there. One was Brazilian and the other Croatian… it was hard not to cry when I was talking to them, such was my state. I was talking about that place and how special it was…
After some time I decided to go to Alreda where a lot of people were supposed to meet me for a final goodbye, so I got out of the Basillica feeling that I should stay for some more time or maybe forever and went up the street without looking back. If I did I knew I would go back… and the odd feeling was still with me and with the same intensity… I entered Alreda and Mohammed automatically recognized I wasn’t good and asked me why… I hardly could answer him and told him I need lemonade and some time alone. I was alone for 30 minutes sitting on a table and writing some notes about what just happened while Mohammed putted the perfect music playing for my state of mind and spirit… it’s the most intense moment of my life until now and I realized it while I was living it and the best was that I didn’t know for sure why… what was the cause of it? I still don’t know, but every time I recall it I feel the same I did that very same day!
As soon as I was more controlled I told Mohammed what happened and he told me how jealous he was from me, that I was having such a feeling… and that’s when the first guests started arriving and the mood started to change… we had some beer I ordered my last hoummus there, I got some goodbye gifts (among them a beautiful Syrian handmade plate offered by Iyad) and I chit chatted for the last time with some of these persons that maybe some I will never see again but that made my time there very special!
After some hours it was 23.00 and I had to say goodbye, exchanged contacts and headed home to pack and prepare to leave to Telaviv and get my flight. I had a taxi picking me up at 00.00 and my flight was at 5:00 am.
It was a very sad moment, a very sad goodbye, so I feel I should have stayed longer.

Jerusalem->Nazareth-->Haifa-->Nazareth-->Telaviv

2006-12-27T20:36:00.001+01:00

Nazareth --> Jerusalem

2006-10-26T11:49:00.000+02:00

Nazareth 2nd October 2006
I went early to the office and soon after Iyad took me with him to collect some food (fruit, vegetables, soft drinks and some sweets and rice) from some local stores and drop them in the place where our first Ramadan Night would take place. There I met Haytham and we stayed together the whole afternoon washing the floor, cleaning the place and preparing the tables for the feast. I fasted that day to experiment again the feeling and to try to understand better the whole concept that lies behind the fasting. I couldn’t fast in liquids though, so I guess my fasting was not real for them… but it was pretty real for me, specially for my stomach!
At around 16.30 around 50 poor families from villages around Nazareth would arrive to this charity dinner (or better: breakfast, because it was Ramadan and it was their/our first meal) to eat and listen to traditional folk music, since a musical band was hired as well. More or less by that time we started serving the food and my appetite disappeared because we were too less people serving and chaos was installed for some moments. And although I couldn’t speak a word in Arabic, it was nice to communicate/interact with the local people. Again I confirmed the warm heart of the Palestinian people.
Some of those people were eating avidly and one could see in their faces that this was a unique occasion and that going to the restaurant is not in part of their lives at all! It was nice to see them enjoying the whole dinner and the music and show afterwards… it was not just a dinner, it was a tribute to them… it was a dinner to make them realize that other people can see that they, as well have a soul!
Somewhere in the middle and when the chaos was no longer there, me and Haytham sat down and finally ate one of what I consider as one of the most deserved meals I ever had or will ever have in my life. After that I went back to the dinning room and distributed the sweets and Arabic coffee. After this both I and Haytham were exhausted, so we went outside to sit and chill out for a bit. In the meantime two of his friends from Nazareth arrived and we ended up having a drink together in Alreda. I met Mohammed there as well and got to know that he would be going to Jerusalem the next day as well (I decided in the afternoon that I would be going to Jerusalem for the next 2 days), so we arranged to meet the next morning so we could travel together. Went home shortly after… it was a very long and interesting day, but also very exhausting.

Nazareth --> Jerusalem 3rd October 2006
Today was traveling day again, so I packed my things (just two pairs of underwear, two t-shirts and the essential toiletries) and headed to the plaza in front of the Basilica, the place where I should meet Mohammed. He arrived a bit late and we decided to go to El Sheik restaurant and eat Hummus. It’s a breakfast that I knew by a previous experience would last, at least, until 6 in the afternoon in my stomach. After this we went to the bus station and got the bus to Haifa. It would take us one and a half hours to get there normally, but we arrived in just one hour because there was no traffic at all. From the station in the center of the city where we arrived we had to take a bus to the Carmel station and get a new bus from there to Jerusalem. Once again we got our luggage checked to enter the Carmel station. As the station is located just by the Carmel beach and we had 45 minutes free, we went to the beach and sat for half an hour under a palm tree. Then we went back to the station and got into the bus. There we talked, talked and talked and I asked one of the many soldiers that were there in the bus what does the tag he has in the left arm means. He was an Arab from the north of Israel and he spoke to me through Mohammed, since he couldn’t speak English. He explained me that he is part of a battalion that protects the wall being built in the Bethlehem and the badge represents that.
The trip to Jerusalem didn’t take long and I was very excited to go back there. I got a very good feeling about the city when I passed by on my way to Telaviv some days ago. We got out in the Bab al-Amoud station and went to one of the old city gates: Bab al-Amoud. I just arrived but I really felt that this is, was and it will always be a magnificent city! Vibrant with life, a place where different cultures and religions try to mix… people and goods everywhere, old great castle walls and gates, narrow streets… and something in the air, something that could almost be touched: Tension! Lots of tension in people’s faces, expressions and behaviors…
Sitting in the stairs that lead to the gates we talked a lot about the city and the people and religion and I observed the people… just observed. I was somehow dazed… Dazed as well by the sounds produced by a man playing a “primitive” bamboo flute. This really fitted to the environment and created a image in my mind that will never be erased. I decided to by 2 flutes for 20 shekels and I was admired when I saw “Made in India” craved in the flutes. It was funny though.
A bit later we decided to go to The Garden of the Tomb, one of the places where it is said Jesus was buried. At the entrance we got a leaflet explaining why the Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association (that takes care and manages the Garden) states that this is the real place of Jesus burial and bases in the Bible, says which proofs and historical places can be found of that in this place. In my way out I decided to buy some postcards in the souvenir shop to help them with the Garden maintenance, since they don’t charge entrance fee I thought it would be reasonable.
After that we went again to the Damascus Gate to meet Mohammed´s girlfriend that was already there waiting for us and we all headed to the Jerusalem Hotel that was quite close from that place. She wanted to have breakfast, Mohammed was hungry as well and I decided to smoke some Argheelle. I think I was addicted to this, not for the vice itself but for the environment in which I was… I felt good smoking that thing… I felt t hat was something I needed to do and since I liked it, it was perfect.
After a couple of hours there we left and met a girlfriend from Mohammed’s girlfriend and we drove together to Café Illel. We have to be checked to enter that place; since they are afraid of the suicide bombers… it sucked again… The girl with whom we went was a Yoga instructor and so she convinced me to have natural yoghurt with muesli… after that me and Mohammed left them and walked towards the Old Jewish Quarter of the city where we were supposed to meet Sharon, a girl friend of Mohammed who would host us for the night. She lived in a very narrow street (like all the streets in that quarter) and her house was on the 1st floor… typical house from historical old parts of ancient cities, I liked it. There was Romi as well, a girlfriend from Sharon. Between talking, candle light and listening to music I fell asleep in the sofa… was a great but long day… again too much to see and to much feelings in to less time!

Jerusalem 4th October 2006
We woke up very early (7.30am) and left immediately because Sharon had to leave for work. I just had time to wash my face and teeth and we left the house. We rushed through the old Jewish quarter, where I felt a lot of indiscrete looks towards me and Mohammed, and had breakfast in a fancy Bakery/Café where I had a croissant and an espresso. The croissant was delicious!
After this we headed to the Damascus Gate to start out tour throughout the city and the historical/holy places. We roamed around in the old market and headed to the old Christian quarter in direction to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It’s a magnificent Church with two levels up and two more underground levels… it is really hard to describe it and one should definitely pay a visit to this place. Right in front of the entrance you can see “Jesus´ Tomb” and one can always see people there scattering rosaries around its tomb (there is always pine oil on it) and saying/singing some prays. Inside it is normal to find people crying like hell without no apparent reason. I didn’t spend much more time there because I had limited time and in the end I decided to buy some rosaries as well and do the same ritual in Jesus´ Tomb, so I knelled and mixed the rosaries with the pine oil and prayed for a bit on them. Made it with four rosaries, one for me and three more for offering.
From there we went to the Jewish quarter in direction to the Wailing Wall. I was trying to see the most in the less time possible, since I had to leave that same evening to Nazareth. It made me feel a bit weird because I don’t like to see things (in this case monuments and/or holy places) just to say I saw them… I like to feel them and to reflect about them. But since I really didn’t have the time and there were things that at least I wanted to be able to say: “I’ve been there once!”, I did it and as I told we rushed to the Wailing Wall… its in a place where Muslims mingle with Jews and its hard to see where a quarter ends and the other starts…
Once we arrived there, we found a “checkpoint” with guarded arms and more metal detectors… they looked to us as if we were suspicious… which we were because Mohammed is Arab and for that he is suspicious. And because I am with him, I automatically became suspicious as well… Anyway we decided to tell them that that we were both Portuguese and they bought it. I showed my passport and Mohammed told he forgot his. They looked to us with a suspicious look and let us in… trust is a thing that seems not to exist in abundance in this city, especially if you are not a Jew…
The wall was a disappointment to me and turned out to be the least appealing of all the places I visited there… seemed somehow fabricated… so I took a picture and went away. Didn’t even felt like touching the wall…
We were going to try our luck again now and see if we both could enter al-Aqsa Mosque. Surprisingly it’s located just above the Wailing Wall… everything is mingling here, only the people don’t… which is a pity! I am sure that if they putted the extremist issues apart everybody could live together and in peace… which a Great city Jerusalem could be… even greater than what it is!!!
On our way to al-Aqsa, and still some large meters away, as the streets seemed to get narrower, some people sitting on somebody’s door asked me in Arab if I was Arab… to which I replied no in English. Then they told me and Mohammed that we couldn’t go further because as it was Ramadan only Muslims are allowed to enter the Mosque…
We got disappointed and frustrated and decided to try our luck again by taking another street route to the Mosque and this time I replied that yes I am Arab to the next people in the street who made me the same question. But to enter to the Mosque plaza there were some security people to whom we decided previously to tell that I am Arab. They doubted of it of course and we need to make up a story in the moment that we were relatives and that I was living in Portugal and that my parents didn’t made a good job teaching me the basics of Islamism and like by miracle (or because they were tired of us) they let us in. it was amazing inside and I felt like a complete stranger because everybody was there because of a holy reason and I was just as a “tourist”, but it felt good… the place gave me a good feeling! In the stairs to the mosque there was a old man taking photos with a Polaroid and he took 2 of me… it is part of the rare repertoire of photos I have from all of my trip to Israel/Palestine…
With the fuzz and excitement and going around the garden, me and Mohammed took an exit of the complex and started walking to one of the gates of the city. Soon after we realized that we didn’t go in the mosque… stupid…so stupid!!!
Anyway off we went; because the time is limited… we got out on one of the old city gates and went around the wall until we find the next one. There we decided to get lost in the city and we decided to play a game: before the next intersection one of us should tell which one to take next. I started with 3rd on the right… and so on. It took us no more than 15 minutes to arrive to the Damascus gate… we were laughing because if we wanted to reach there in so less time we wouldn’t have done it for sure.
Then and from there we decided that was time to sit down a bit and get some rest before the journey back to Nazareth, so Mohammed suggested the Ambassador Hotel which turned out to be the perfect choice. Located in the top of one hill, the view towards the city was amazing and we had tea and smoked arghellee the whole afternoon (because during this time we decided to stay there for one more night). Around 18.00 his girlfriend met us and we went to a restaurant nearby to have breakfast J
There we got to know through a friend of hers that there would be in East Jerusalem a concert by a local hip hop band and a Capoeira demonstration. And well, we decided to go there, so after dinner we took a bus to the University where the concert was. In the bus everybody was looking at me like as if I was an alien (feeling that I was more than used to by this time…).
The concert was funny. The band was amateur and they were singing about Palestine and all the problems that they are facing there mixed with some revolutionary mottos… in the end there was the Capoeira demonstrations in which I took part as well and soon after we left with the brother of Mohammed´s girlfriend. We all went to his place where we three slept, not before smoking the best arghelle I did during my whole stay in Israel. The tobacco was from Jordan and had a smoother taste compared to the one I got used to. Was wonderful… but soon I went to bed because I was so tired… and next morning we were heading to Nazareth.

final update to come this weekend

2006-10-20T00:49:00.000+02:00

The last and one of the most exciting updates about my last days in Israel is to come this weekend...
To be continued :)

More Nazareth & Ramallah

2006-10-20T00:42:00.000+02:00

Nazareth 26th September 2006
As usual I woke up, ate something and went to the office to continue writing my stormy report. So, between thinking and typing, and deleting and retyping, the lunch time arrived and with it I went with Iyad to get some food donation for the Ramadan nights and store it in the distribution place. It was very hot outside, and although it was not too much stuff, it was enough to make me sweat a bit more. In conversation, we decided that I would be going to Ramallah this weekend to get to know a bit more about Palestine and to talk to a Brazilian TV reporter that wants to know a bit more abut LIFE and its work in Palestine. The rest of the afternoon I continued typing in front of the computer and Heymath, the owner of the building cafeteria invited me to join him and some friends to smoke arghella in a very nice cafe called Casa Palestina. Among arghella puffs and sips of red wine we talked a lot about the Palestinian problematic, about the similitude of the southern European and Arab cultures and about one thousand other different things.
It was a very nice evening, wonderful place and nice people. Hope I can repeat it again soon.

Nazareth 27th September 2006
It was another writing day, so as usual I ran to the office still sleepy. Had to be on time today once I am keeping Haymath's keys and had to open the office at 9:00.
It was a hard writing day because I had to put in words all the feelings and emotions about some keys moments from my WB trip and although I just managed to write a page by the end of the day, I was quite tired. Eating the Hummus at around 10 am was not a good idea either (although it was delicious) because it made me more sleepy and slow.
At 13:00 I went to the Basilica to wait for Ana and guide her to the office so she and Iyad could speak a little bit. In the end she didn’t show up because I got to know later that day, she didn’t see my note.
Went back to the office and tried to write the rest of the afternoon. Made a break at 17.00 and went to the Basilica for some minutes. I didn’t even eat before 18:00; it was such a strong Hummus! Stayed until 19.00 in the office and went back home, where Ana later met me and dragged me to Alreda. We were talking a bit more about our projects and got to know each other a bit better. After that I showed her the Casa Palestina, where we smoked arghella and went home by 1.30 am.
It was a long, hard day and I was glad I finally could go to sleep. The next day I will have to wrap up some stuff and prepare my things to leave to Ramallah.

Nazareth 28th September 2006
Day started early again and I continued updating my diary. It's very time and brain consuming to write about this strong emotional experiences… so I spent all the morning writing until I went to Mary's Well to pick up Ana, so that she could meet Iyad. I was for half an hour in the sun waiting…it was so hot! It was a relief to get back to the air conditioned and write again, at least for the next minutes, before the brain starts asking for more coffee in order to work.
Wrote the whole afternoon as usual, visited the Basilica, went to the internet café and headed home. Had to prepare my stuff to depart in the next morning and went to bed early after talking to Suheer (the woman that would pick me up the next morning) because I would have to wake up at 6 am.

Nazareth --> Ramallah 29th September 2006
Woke up at 6 am and had a quick shower while preparing some Arabic coffee to keep me awake. At 6.30 Suheer called me to check whether I was awake, which I was. At 6.50 I was in the meeting point, in front of the pharmacy near my house. At 7:00 she arrived and we headed to the headquarters of YMCA, where an Arab Christian organization (Sybell? name it right here) is located. There was a bus waiting to take me and fourteen more girls to Ramallah. Apparently a paradise for any man, but a piece of heel as well when some of them started singingJ.
The trip was very fast and smooth. We didn’t have any problem; even in the checkpoints they never checked our ID's or passports. That was a relief and it was funny to see how the soldiers present a clear dichotomy in their way of thinking and acting. I am sure if it was one girl and fourteen guys in the bus we would have had a lot of problems!
Before heading to Ramallah we stopped in a small village nearby, Jifna, where our Hostel was located. We dropped our stuff, had breakfast and got to know that another group of young people whom we were supposed to meet that morning couldn’t do it. So we hanged around in the Hostel until lunchtime and ate at a local restaurant. The restaurant was very modest but had a very nice fresh shadowy terrace full of fans blowing. Everybody was so hungry and tired by this time because of the trip and the heat, so we hanged quite a while there. It was very nice because I got to know a lot of these people during this lunch. All of the people here, both the people in the group and in the village are Christians Arabs and besides the fact that they are Christians I don’t see major differences between them and the Muslim Arabs. Exactly the same people, the same culture with different religious believes. Although some of the girls told me that sometimes it is hard for some Christians to live here because they are the smaller minority and a lot of them emigrate to some European or North American country.
After this we left to a bus tour across Ramallah. We passed by the University, the Parliament, the place where Yasser Arafat was "living" during his domiciliary prison, the main square with lions scattered around a roundabout and some main shopping streets. We headed then to one of the main churches which host one of the biggest Christian communities in Ramallah and we heard a History Professor in Bethlehem University talk about the Christian history and important spots in the surroundings of Ramallah. We had dinner there afterwards (pizza: not very traditional but it was good for a change) and interacted with the young people of the local Christian group. One of the girls I met came from Los Angeles a couple of years ago and she was talking about the adaptation problems to the West Bank reality and different type of life and culture. We then headed to the Theatre where we saw a nice play, performed by some theatre students of the local university. The play was a satire that focused on the problems of the current reality in the West Bank and although I didn’t get a thing of what they were talking (the plays was of course in Arabic) I think I got the message out of it because all kinds of art have a universal language.
After this long day I was feeling really tired, and by the time the theater play was over (around 22:00) I just wanted to go home. I realized by then that I was wrong and that we were going to one of the very famous Ramallah roof top Cafes. So the driver drove us to the center of the city and we entered an old building, went up the stairs and reached the café. I would never have guesses that in that old building such a nice café could be hidden. It had a very clean, neat and modern look. There was a flag of Portugal side by side with the Palestinian one (the waiter explained me that it was a remain from a Portuguese friend of them during the World Cup) in the inner part of the café and outside there was a nice terrace where we all sat, drunk something and smoked argheelle for the next couple of hours.
Before leaving this place, two of the girls asked me if I wanted to continue the night with them and some more people from Ramallah. I thought it will be a nice chance to get to know more about the city and about its other side of life, so I accepted the invitation. We then separated from the main group, which went to the hostel in the bus and we went by car looking for other open club to continue the night. We passed by three nice places, but unfortunately they were all closing or completely empty, so the guys decided to show me the fancy area of Ramallah. They made me a tour around the rich neighborhood and it was really surprising to see that there could be so many, nice, big and luxurious houses in a city facing so many problems…
On our way out of the rich quarter, my final incident in the West Bank: right at the entrance of a roundabout, we got stopped by an armored Israeli army jeep. They ordered us to stop and started inspecting our car, maneuvering a spotlight from the interior of their jeep. Everybody was kind of nervous and feeling bad because they “putted me” in this situation…they were feeling responsible in case something bad happened… and it was incredible but I didn’t feel nervous at all, although one can notice a huge, odd feeling growing of being helpless and at the hands of somebody else will and mood… it is outrageous! Anyway, I raised my hands slowly so that they could see them and after 1 minute passing the light from left to right and from right to left in our vehicle they made us a sign to return back. We were free to go again, so we reversed and used another way to get out from that quarter… this ruined the spirit and the rest of night, so we headed to Jifna. It was better to go to sleep and although this kind of situations are not very desirable I was really happy that it happened to me, because the things that one feels in these situations are priceless!

Ramallah --> Nazareth 30th September 2006
The day started at 6.30 am for me since I slept in the ground of the Hostel living room in the top of two thin mattresses due to the high temperature that our rooms had… and because it was too early to do something and the television was broken, the only thing I could do was wait for the breakfast to be served. Finally at around 8 am, both the food and people started arriving at the breakfast room and I could finally eat. We were there until 9.30, hour at which we departed to Ramallah. Once there, we had one and a half hour to roam around the city and do some shopping. I felt a bit weird since everybody looks at me and right away identifies me as a foreigner and just wonders what the hell is another foreigner doing in Ramallah… although this happened in all places I visited, I still didn’t get used to it and think I never will. So, I visited the city center together with Suheer and entered a few shops in the main streets checking for some souvenirs. I had always had the feeling that things for me were overpriced, even though I decided to support the local economy and bought a few bracelets from a shop. After that was time to get into the bus and head to Taybeth.
Once there we visited the local church and the small Christian “Hostel” the local parish runs. It’s a building with the shape of a dove located in one of the hills of the town and it has a great view to the plain just in front of it. The restaurant is in the ground floor near a big fountain that creates a very fresh and refreshing atmosphere. He had lunch there and chatted a lot. Was nice to get to know something more about some of the persons with whom I was traveling. After lunch we visited a small ceramic factory where they make the “peace doves” which they export together with the peace candles and olive oil to hundreds of churches in the world. It is a project started by the local priest and the money is supposed to fund the parish and some of their initiatives… quite nice idea I have to say!
After that we visited the ruins of a millenary church… nothing special most of the people say, but I loved it, I just loved it…only some walls were still standing and a small part of the original mosaic floor was there… a place full of history and feelings…
From there we headed to the Taybeth beer factory where we had a guided visit through it and got the chance to taste it (although I did it before already). Then we met the founders and owners who told us about the difficulties they faced to create an alcoholic drink factory in a region that is mainly Muslim and that faces all the economic sanctions imposed by the US and UN.
From there we went again to the main church of the village and had a chat with some people from the parish. Soon after we departed from Taybeth in direction to Nazareth and had no problems at all in the checkpoint.
Once in Nazareth I decided that I would go to Alreda just to chill out a bit and maybe visit Casa Palestiniana to smoke some Arghelle. Once in Alreda, I ordered the home made lemonade prepared by Hannen and started writing some notes and thoughts. I invited Mohammed to smoke some arghelle, but he could answer me just in one hour, so I ordered one glass of red wine and just sat there writing and listening to Arabic music. After some time, Hannen offered me a dessert made of milk and flour… it seems that she hit the point, because I had stomach ache for the past two days and that was more or less the remedy that my mother used when I was a child. And in fact, it did work this time as well… it cured my stomach ache. In the meantime Mohammed disappeared with his boss somewhere and I decided to go home. Was a very long day for me and I have to admit that that night I really appreciated my bed.
Don’t know why (actually I do), but life in the West Bank is always very intense…

Nazareth 1st October 2006
The day started early with a phone call from Mohammed. He was asking if I wanted to join him and the Alreda staff and go to Haifa to the beach. I didn’t hesitate and said yes and half an hour later I was more than ready in the meeting point waiting for them. Soon after they came and off we go! The journey begins again… and I was so happy because I would be going to the beach just for chilling.
After an enjoyable trip composed by a mix of laughter and Arabic music we finally arrived at the Carmel beach in Haifa. It was marvelous… the sea was a mix of green with blue and the sand so thin and clear… I went directly to the water after setting up the table and preparing the barbeque. That was the advantage of going with the cook of Alreda. We had very nice traditional Arabic food. The rest of the afternoon we spent between smoking arghelle, swimming and talking. I played quite a lot of capoeira in the beach, what was very nice as well.
Unfortunately, was Kipur (a holy day for the Jews) so we have to leave the beach at around 15 o´clock. It is said that they stone people who are on the streets between 17 or 17:30 of that day and the next morning (correct me if I am wrong). And as we didn’t want to check whether this is true, we just headed to Nazareth again. As Nazareth is 100% Arab, we didn’t have this problem there, which was nice. I took the rest of the day to rest, write some notes about the past days and visited the Basilica. I got used to do it regularly and felt really good to thank God that everything was going ok until then.
Then I went home and had a shower to take the dry salt in my body. After that and as I promised to visit the Alreda crew, I rushed to Conte and quickly checked my emails and chatted with some friends and my family. On my way to Conte I had a surprise. I saw a girl with whom I went to Ramallah sitting in Tishreen and decided to go in just to say hi. Once there I met as well Rula and Marlen (the two girls with whom I got along better) and they “forced me” to join them for a drink. The drink prolonged itself and after that one we decided to have a cocktail in Dandana, the new place just across the street. We had a very nice time and stood there for almost two hours… and the Alreda crew was expecting me… so around 23.30 I decided to leave and say at least hi to them. They were not expecting me anymore and soon after I went home. The next day was working day!

update

2006-10-12T11:40:00.000+02:00

okok, i will update my blog with the last week I spent in Israel/Palestine as soon as it is ready...

To be continued...

The End

2006-10-10T15:57:00.000+02:00

I am in Cologne safelly at home or lab

Xucran xucran

2006-10-06T11:09:00.000+02:00

yes yes i know i havent written for quite a while, but you all know what? i got tired of sharing. ive got tired of exposing myself. got tired of this blog thing. i lived marvelloyus experiences here. My time here will be over in 42 hours. will go to the Haifa beach this afternoon and have to buy some presents and prepare stuff to leave and say goodbye to all my friends from here.
Was the time of my life...never got so many situations in where i got goose bumps and stomach aches/butterflies-in-the-stomach and strange good/bad feelings... got it when i arrived, got it in the checkpoints, got it seeing the miserable, got in during the shooting, got it in some holy places, got it when helping the people, got it when i was alone, got it when i got thank you from the people, got it when i think about all this, got it when i think i have to go and got it because i am writing this now.

im alive and in good health and i miss my life in germany as well

greetings and screw some of you that dont deserve me sharing all this!

PS - come to Palestine and see, feel, learn and THINK!

thats what i feel lately

2006-09-28T13:28:00.000+02:00

Cognitive dissonance is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, which can be defined as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior (in lay men's terms, the uncomfortable tension that comes from holding two conflicting thoughts at the same time). The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions. Experiments have attempted to quantify this hypothetical drive.

and i have a constant stomach ache since 2 days...this whole experience has been more stressfull than what i felt or noticed...

bla bla bla

2006-09-27T15:05:00.000+02:00

Nazareth 25th September 2006
The day started after 10 hour sleep and I had to do my laundry, manually… took me some time and when I was finished I went to the office to start typing my report in the computer. I was feeling much better today; the storm in my brain and in my soul was calmer. At least the lightning and thunders seemed to be gone and the rain was not so heavy anymore…
It was good to start typing in the computer about the last few days. It organized my thoughts, made me remember all the moments I had been through and made me reflect a lot. Now that I had the time I could calmly think about the situation of those people, the causes and consequences of my actions, the things I learned, the take home message and more important, how could I pass this message to other people. This task is not that easy as it might seem! It is hard to put in words not only the conditions and lifestyle of people in the West Bank but also all the emotions that one feels by living the Palestinian lifestyle. "One image is worth on thousand words" and this saying applies to this situation more than anything I ever seen in my life.

[I think that part the problem resides in the subjectivity of the concepts. Things I was used to in my western European lifestyle, the way I prioritized things, certain concepts, certain values… all these things changed here! They had to. Here people fight for basic needs, things that I always had for granted… stress and anxiety will never have the same meaning to me, some values grew while others faded because I lived and I experienced other things here. Life itself gained another meaning; it is like if I reached another level.
A lot of words in my dictionary gained a special or completely different meaning. Words and concepts that for the western people will continue to be just abstract concepts even if I try to explain or picture it to them, because they never experienced what in part I and these people that live here do. But it is worth a try. These suffering people are worth it!]

Between hours and hours of typing it was time to meet Ana so I left the office and went to Bayat café, our meeting point. After half an hour she arrived and we headed to Alreda where we had Hummus and talked a lot about volunteering and the difficulties that volunteers face. She has been doing this for 2 years now and she wants to pursue a career in the field.

UPDATED: 5 days in the WB

2006-09-26T15:45:00.000+02:00

Salfit, 20th September 2006
The big day arrived. As usual, got out of bed, had a shower and had my breakfast. Had to meet Iyad at 07:50 in the meeting point and I arrived shortly before he did. Jumped into the car and we started our journey. The traffic in Nazareth was total chaos and it took us a long time just to get out of the city. Then we drove until Haifa, place where I was meeting the driver that was taking both me and the food to distribute in Salfit area. Changed from Iyad's car to the big truck full with the food packages and listened carefully to Iyad's tips and advices. Got a bit scared by this time… but anyway I had to go. Had to do it!
The plan was the following: go to Salfit area, unload the food packages, distribute them throughout the villages' distribution centers and take photos and videos of the food distribution and people's living conditions over there. Then I should go to Nablus on the 23rd and do the same thing there for two days and on the 25th go to Jerusalem, get a bus to Haifa where Iyad would be waiting for me.
By this time I didn’t know where I was going to stay, with whom or in which conditions. Didn’t know what to expect, but I really didn’t care about it. The trick is to expect the worst case scenario, so that you never get disappointed or worried with what you get. The most important thing is to keep calm all the time.
Anyway, my trip started and we were in the highway Ytzhac Rabin in direction to Telaviv. Salfit is no more than 40 Km from the capital city. When we entered the WB – which was signalized by 2 cement blocks on each side of the road with a fluorescent X painted on them – the landscape just changed! Most of the houses seem abandoned, the roads are filled with holes, the cars seem directly out of the junkyard (it is still a miracle to me how they could be driven) and the people… well the people are just people, like anyone of us, but without fancy clothes, deodorant, accessoires and perfume.
My first impression gave me the idea that everything is covered by a dust layer: the "houses", the "cars" and the people... the people's mind. All this made me feel sadness, disappointment caused by a great injustice… "Why?" – is the only thing that comes to my mind. I didn’t think too much about it at the time, I didn’t want to! It was easier for me not to think about it… and I had to stay calm and not let be overruled by my emotions! After all I had work to do.
As we were driving to our destination I looked closer, to the houses, to the cars, to the people… and although the scenery would be the perfect for an abandoned city horror movie, I realized that there were people everywhere! And they were looking at me… and the children smiling. I guess I was a little ray of hope in their life… I had the feeling that I could help to clean some dust from their minds!
After dozens of holes in the road and hundreds of lightning speed thoughts, we arrived to the distribution center: our destination. Local people looked at me as if I was an ET… which I was and felt like in this land. In their faces I could read the question they were making to themselves: "Who in hell is this guy and WHY and what is he doing here?". I admit that their looks made me think a lot and I had second thoughts about all this…
The local committee gave me a very warm welcoming and they served me some Arabic coffee on the spot and we started unloading the food packages. Happenings were succeeding so fast that I had no time for anything. Had to take pictures, listen to the people and help unloading the food. Spent that morning taking pictures and carrying boxes and bags; first from the truck to the storage and later from the storage to cars. Between lots of coffee and tea I sweated a lot… it is hard to work under such a hot sun!
By now, like all of them, I was covered with a dust layer… and I was starting to understand a new reality: their reality. The Palestinian people reality! And besides all the problems they face, besides all the stress and tension, people here are friendly, warm and smiling. They keep on living! I can feel an enormous strength and will of living; on going forward… quitting is not an option for them! And it was not for me either! They transmitted me a lot of strength and courage... they made me feel at home. They always offered me the best they had… and what surprised me, without expecting or wanting anything in return!
Around 14 o'clock they took me to see and photograph the apartheid wall and visit a family that lived nearby. I went with Saher (the man with whom I would be staying with and my guide in Salfit) and the man that was living there. We made a short car trip and parked near the wall. There is a concrete part and the rest is kind of a fence that at night dusk is electric! We went through a locked gate in the fence (which the man had the key for) and we crossed. I felt like trespassing by now… couldn’t see any soldier but I felt like at gunpoint all the time. This was all new to me and I was still a bit afraid. But I crossed the gate, which this man closed right after and I found myself in a place that was neither Palestine neither Israel. It was like nobody's land. It was a buffer zone. At night the soldiers patrol that area and shot at any movement they see, this man told me. His house was in this buffer zone and it was limited by a cube: concrete wall in front, electric fence on the back, right and left, the soil and the sky on the bottom and up. From dusk until dawn this man and his family (3 children and his wife) had to live inside their house risking their life if they just dare to come and look out of the window… he talked on how the wall and destruction of the greenhouse he was working in lead him and his family to misery… even though he offered us coffee and juice!
Went back to the distribution center and had lunch (that seemed like a feast to me) at a collaborator's house. He could speak a little Portuguese because he made some holidays in Brazil… pretty amazing! After this the first distribution session started. It took place in the yard in front of the collaborating organization. Fifty packages were distributed that afternoon. It felt really good to see materialized my will to help this people. It was good to see how people's faces were changing when they were coming to get the food packages. A lot of the food packages were carried either by the LIFE collaborators and their relatives directly to people houses or cars.
There was a few that were arriving dragging themselves, looking down to the ground and picking the food packages personally. It was really nice to notice that when the food was given to them, a smile would appear and energy would burst out of their bodies. They could feel a bit more relieved now that they could feed their families!
After this we headed to Sarta, a village nearby, where Saher was living. It’s a 900 year old historical village and they made a small "touristic" tour with me across it. He showed me his place, where I met his family and spent the next a couple of hours. Did Capoeira, had a shower, ate some fruit and drank some more tea.
After this we went out again and he showed me the place where he and his friends gather, an old room in an old building in the center of the village. There I drank more tea and Shaer and two of his friends decided to show me the night view from the top of the village's hill. We took 30 minutes to get to the top and we sat in the rocks, admired the view and talked a lot. From there we could see Netanyia and Telaviv not very far away. This made me think of the lifestyle difference. It was a paradise compared to the life people have here in the WB. So near and so far… that’s the "miracle" of the wall and the apartheid! I can go freely to both places: in and out as I want. But not these people… not these poor people!
One hour later we went back to the village. They were telling me about the 3rd Mosque of the village, that in their opinion was not needed at all and that they should spend the limited money in doing other things. After all, the village has only 3000 inhabitants.
Once at Saher's place we ate a lot: Salad, Humus (delicious!), pickles, bread and cheese. The food there is great! We then talked about some cultural differences between Europe and Palestine and about the problems they face. Stayed up until 1 am… it was a very long day for me… a lot of stuff, a lot of feelings…

Salfit, 21st September 2006
Woke up at 8:00 without having enough sleep because of the heat, the mosquitoes and the call to go to mosque. Got around 12 mosquito bites that night. That would be my second day in the WB and I was happy that the night was over. Washed my face, scratched the mosquito bites and went away. Didn’t have breakfast, just a coffee. We headed towards the next distribution point in a car that I would never think it could de driven.
We arrived at the first distribution point of the day, in Deir Ballut. The distribution was made in kind a yard/terrace of somebody's house. I got surprised to see that, compared to the day before, persons were queuing for the food packages… impatient to get them home and nervous that they will finish before their turn comes. So, when it all started, chaos ruled and some people were coming back, after they had their food package safe at home, and asking for more… saying that it is not enough… that they need more…Took a lot of photos that morning, although people do not collaborate much! It is a bit frustrating, but maybe because I am a foreigner they become suspicious about the aim of my pictures. Language is a barrier and it's hard to stop people and take photos of them with the food, either because they just run away or because somebody takes the food to them. Before the distribution event was over I was called to accompany Saher and a man to a piece of land he owns. Israel is building another wall near and if they decide to build it across this man's land it means he will loose it automatically… he was complaining also about the fact that he couldn’t actually use his land now, because the IOF would shoot a him or whoever is on the land after dusk. It's sad, but it’s the reality here in the WB! We visited a family where the father is blind, the mother died and the two sons are diabetic… They barely have money to eat because all of it has to go either to the medicine or to the visits to the doctor.
We went then to the second distribution point, in Rafat, and divided the food in 50 family packages. I had my first meal by this time. It was already 16:00. After having lunch, the distribution started. A few cars, a donkey and a few cartwheels were coming, loading the food packages and leaving. The people who actually carry the food to the cars, donkey, and cartwheels and sometimes to houses are the LIFE collaborators and their relatives. Not many different faces are actually coming to get the food packages… I guess that just the ones more in need, the critical cases come personally and because they have no transportation method they pick it personally from the distribution center. Here we visited a family of 13 people (father, mother plus 11 sons) living in very bad conditions. The father was telling me that after he lost his job in Israel, to earn money to support 9 of the 11 child he had (2 were in Ramallah living with some relatives) was almost impossible and that the help from LIFE was very important. The children were always around me smiling and asking me to take photos of them and their house. I had a tour through their house, which is unfinished and too small for such a numerous family. When I left, all the kids were coming to me and shouting "Thank you, thank you!" and shaking my hand. One of them marked me especially because he took my right hand, said "Thank you!" looking me in the eyes, then holding it, took it to his heart, forehead and gave a kiss on the back of it. I got goose bumps for the next five minutes… nothing similar had ever happened to me before…
After this we followed to the third and last distribution point of the day in az Zawiya. It was improvised in a really small room/storage filled with the food packages among other old electric junk. It was very dark there and the family packages were not prepared. All the separate components were pilled across the room. We had to prepare the packages as people were coming and the distribution strategy repeated itself… not many different people were coming and to take pictures in this place was even harder. The distribution strategy, the lack of space, light and will from the people made it very hard to document the distribution event. It was getting late afternoon, I was exhausted and by 19.30 we left with 14 packages still to distribute.
We went home and I had to write about these two last days. I got to know that I have to rush to Nablus in the next morning, one day earlier than the predicted. Didn’t do much more that night besides writing more and more and pack my stuff to leave the next morning until the moment when the Saher's brother dragged me to the mount again and meet Saher and his friends. That night I went to bed at 01:00 o'clock in the morning again.

Salfit & Nablus, 22nd September 2006
The day started and I scratch around 10 new mosquito bites. Didn’t sleep neither much neither well, so I woke up quite tired. Saher suggested that I interview his family before I head to Nablus, ando so I did. After that Saher's brother took me to the taxi, which charged me 50 shekels just to go to Nablus. I asked him (Saher's brother) if that was a normal price and he told me yes. I paid the 50 shekels having the feeling that I was being ripped off… got into the taxi and we headed to Nablus. This taxi driver picked 6 more passengers on the way that paid much less than I did and we passed the Passport Control point. The soldier wrote down my passport number and that means, that probably I will have the double of the questions when I leave Israel. Soon after I had to get out of the taxi and walk through the other side of the Checkpoint where another taxi would be waiting for me with the local collaborators. I passed through the checkpoint with no trouble compared to the people who were trying to get out of Nablus. I felt like being on gunpoint all the time. Control towers with snipers all over…and that made me nervous. But there I was, all alone going to Nablus.
Once in the other side I was bombarded by taxi drivers' offers, which I refused and waited for my taxi. It took around 5 minutes to arrive… they horned and I got into the taxi with all my stuff plus the LIFE placards and t-shirts. Nobody spoke to me, just the typical "Marhabar!". Once in Nablus I called Iyad saying that I arrived. It was a relief for both that all went with no problems. It was also good to be in a city, in a metropolis. There we headed to the PARC/PCHR office in the center of the city. There were a lot of women waiting inside, I didn’t know why and when I tried to interview them (suggested by the local collaborators) they all actively refused. Some even left the room!
Half an hour later all this women headed to another room, along with some other people that arrive din the meantime. They were registering in order to get the food packages. The rule was: one food package per family, and the choosing criteria was: families with more than 5 children or who have lost people during the occupation. Again chaos installed, and outside the office, banging in the metal door all the time and shouting there were a huge crowd slashing themselves against the walls of the stairway trying to get in and register for the packages. This made me realize that the situation here is much worse than in Salfit, and it made me see the problems that the siege caused to these people. In the old part if the town, the unemployment rate reaches the 60-70% almost and it is here where most of the critical cases live.
We headed towards the distribution point that wasn’t far from there and we had a hard time opening our way through the people in the stairway! This distribution point was a dark room with a small door very similar to the one described before, located in a street in the back of a building. The truck arrived at the same time we did. The t-shirts just flew around and it was time to unload the food and make some pictures. After the unloading there was one person left with the LIFE t-shirt, which was a teenager that was helping there. The taxis came in succession along with more cartwheels and again the distribution process was the same as in all the other places. LIFE collaborators were taking the food packages into the taxis and the cartwheels. This together with people coming and going, taxi drivers horning to the people on the streets and no LIFE logos around (except my t-shirt, the teenager one and the placards placed on the wall) to take pictures was a mission. People here seemed less "scared" of me, although they still looked at me with suspicious eyes and some of the staff ask me what am I doing there (I guess they were not aware of my arrival). A lot of people were asked to share their stories with me while waiting for their turn in the queue. Rafat was the person to whom I was "assigned" to and the one who translates things to me. The amount of people in need here is visibly more, fact that could be seen by the increased number of angry protests against the "small" amount of food that was given to them. It was hard to deal with that… the one that marked me the most was an old woman passing the pointing finger across Rafat's throat while protesting.
Heard some life stories from some of the people in need; among them a blind man, a man that had his arm burned due to Israeli bombing and a lot of people without work. Some of the people didn’t accept even to take photos.
We went then to have lunch at Rafat's uncle house which told me about him and his family and how the situation got worse in Nablus in the last six years. He told me that before he had money in the bank and that now he barely has money to live and that he lost his business a few years ago, along with 30000 US dolares. He lives now with 2000 shekels per month, from which 1000 are used to pay the house and fixed bills. He has 3 children, 2 of which are girls and have thalassemia. For this reason they have to do blood transfusions twice a month at least and to make a medulla transplant is way too expensive.
After this we left again to the distribution point and again the same stories as in the morning. The situation here is really worst than in Salfit area. There, because it’s a rural area, people seem to help each other more, but here, and like any other big city is more impersonal and people care less about their neighbors. One can feel the stress and tension of the people in the air. They are more impatient, more nervous, less caring and less warm.
And although the situation here is bad, the city itself is wonderful… And despite the aggressive posters and the constant appeal to revolution in the air, I like it very much!
It is a city full of life, full of people and pretty clean for what I have seen until now in the WB.
Rounds of shooting can be heard all across the city, but I guess it's because Ramadan starts tomorrow. In the city center a Christian tower can be seen side by side with a Mosque, and in the top of the hill a Israeli control tower can be seen (they shoot to city sometimes from there).
The night was falling and I went to Rafat's appartment. A nice apartment in the 4th floor of a new building in the top of one of the hills of Nablus and the view over the city is just fantastic. Had a nice meal together with some more tea and Arabic coffee. Then the rest of the evening I spent writing my daily report and playing with his son, Nouni: a very smart 2.5 year old kid. When I finished my writing and was finally preparing to go to bed, action started!
Some shooting blasted very near my house, one street under the street of my building. I could see from the window armed man running around a catholic church and shooting at some other people. I got to know later that night that it was some people that tried to burn the church due to the recent Pope comments… the shooting was between these men and the Palestinian police. It was my first live shooting and both me and Rafat got scared when a lost bullet could be seen coming more or less in our direction (it is like a shooting star, orange in color, and coming from down towards up)… I went to bed shortly after… what a day and what a night!

Nablus, 23rd September 2006
One more day in Nablus and as I mencioned before, despite all its problems, it is a fantastic city. It has all it needs to prosper, if it wasn’t for the siege…
Tonight I slept really well! Maybe my best night sleep since I arrived in Israel/Palestine. My hosts are great! Once again I was lucky!
Today is the first day of Ramadan, so I will try to keep up to the rule: don’t eat or drink or smoke until the sunset. Since I do not smoke I would "just" have to cope with the fasting.
I and Rafat left the apartment and went to the Workers Union. There was no distribution today and so I spent the next 1 hour waiting for Rafat to solve some problems there. I was getting bored in Nablus… but I barely knew what was expecting me that day! In the meantime, when Rafat was done in the workers Union we headed to the PARC office where for the next couple of hours I waited sitting for a meeting to finish. I have to admit that I cheated Ramadan and I ate and drunk by lunch time…I couldn’t stand it… and if I didn’t eat I couldn’t concentrate on my work later on that day.
In the meantime, people that got some food packages the day before were coming back to complain again that the food wasn’t enough and they were trying to "fool the system" by coming several members of the same family asking for food packages. Unfortunately for them the technique didn’t work, so they were going away pretty upset and some of them really angry.
A bit later we went to another building where Rafat was supposed to meet with somebody else. By this time I felt pretty useless and I was getting bored and bored. I then asked for the plan of the day and he told me that we would go to visit the old center of Nablus and try to talk to some families living there. The objective was to record some testimonials about the apartheid and the Israeli army frequent incursions and bombing to that area of the town.
At 14:00 I had to talk with Abujamil, the guy who was coordinating the distribution (I think) and he asked me about my impressions of Nablus. He wanted some feedback.
I told him about my point of view of the situation as an outsider: the situation here is much worse than the situation people live in the rural areas of Salfit. One could see clearly that the amount of people asking for more food is more compared to Salfit, the stress and tension people have can be felt in the air and also because in cities people care much less about each other, the situation becomes even worse. In rural areas the motto is more like "one for all and all for one", while in Nablus is "I'm for me and you are for you". Moreover, the huge unemployment rate (reaching 60-70% in the old center) together with the economic sanctions and the siege make it very hard to the people living here. People seem to respect less the person next to them and personal interests come always first. Fact that is completely understandable because one can't worry about the wellbeing of others if his own situation is not stable.
Abujamil agreed with me and he called a man and asked him to guide me through the old city center. He told me that we should leave right away because after 17:30 they could not protect me against some possible local militia threat. This made me feel my stomach again… but I had to do it. Was a unique opportunity and I had to grab it.
When the tour started, they showed me a house in ruins and told me that it was a bomb that the Israeli army putted there killing 6 people inside. A few meters ahead the same situation, where 4 more people died… the old center is beautiful, the streets are narrow full of passages under the houses that resemble a big old maze… I admire all that and think on how lucky I am to have the chance to see that still intact piece of history and think about the people who would pay a lot just to see what I was seeing… pieces of intact history are priceless and all this was threatened… We continued, and the number of bombed houses succeeded, along with the number of killed people on them… in the main plaza of the center there was a "shrine" to 9 victims of one of the bombed houses there… a hole family was killed! In this place there were a group of people looking at me and my guide advised me to keep the camera down and not to take more pictures for now… I followed his advice! I have noticed before that some people were making some comments to me and some were not very happy with the fact that I was taking pictures and getting my video camera out!
The tour continued, and the propaganda posters along with the killed people memorials and shrines increased. We got into a parking place where one could see that before there were houses… again he told me that 16 people were killed here in a bombing and that now it was converted in parking place for cars… we soon arrived at the old market where the people pushed against each other, some shopping, some running to the big Mosque in the center… it was vibrating with life, colors, shops, food, clothes, people…full of everything. It almost makes you forget about all the problems… And contrarily to what I experienced in the old town center, in the market people look at me, smile and say to each other: "Television, television!"
Because it was the first Ramadan day, people were extra busy at this time of the day and that was the reason why we didn’t visit any family as predicted before… What a pity! But anyway, it was good that I had the chance to go through this experience, which I think I would have never been able to do it by myself alone.
When the tour was over me and Rafat bought some food and headed home. There we had a full dinner with Schwarma included and I started packing my stuff to go to Haifa the next morning. My Nablus' time was getting to an end. I was missing it already…
After dinner we were having some Arabic coffee when Rafat received a sms and asked me if I wanted to go with him to the hospital to see some Israeli shooting victims. I went of course and when we arrived there we saw a man lying in bed with a big wound in his arm. The story was as following: he was in a taxi near the Nablus checkpoint when the car in front of them almost stopped. The taxi driver started overtaking this car and from one of the control towers a Israeli soldier shouted "Stop!" at the same time he started shooting at the car… 4 people were wounded. This man was the most critical case and he had 3 bullet fragment wounds in the back and one of the bullets entered near his wrist and got out near the elbow… It was very sad to hear the poor man story that had done nothing wrong. I didn’t know what to think with the hospital room smelling like blood and seeing the man lying in his bed in despair…
We went away and on our way home Rafat showed me one of the busiest streets at night of Nablus…had a coffee in a local café and headed home to sleep.
The next day would be a long day!

from Nablus to Nazareth 24th September 2006
That day started very early to me, earlier than what it should have! As it was supposed to leave Nablus at 8:00, I set up the alarm clock for 7:00. I realized one hour after that my clock was forward one hour… that’s why nobody was awake while I started to stress out with time.
Anyway, at real 7:00 Rafat woke up, we got ready and left to the center where I was supposed to meet Munjid at 8:00. he would take me to Ramallah and then somebody would accompany me until Jerusalem where I then would get a bus to Haifa, place where Iyad would be waiting for me.
Munjid was late 30 minutes and only at 9:00 we got out of Nablus. The taxi took us until the checkpoint. And now I had to do the reverse way I did 2 days ago. It was very easy to get in to Nablus, but it seemed impossible to get out! In our way to the checkpoint a crowd of people could be seen. I realized then that the checkpoints were closed and there was one soldier calling and checking person by person before being allowed to proceed further or be sent back. Between a fence on the left and concrete clocks on the right people were pushing each other forward while the soldiers were shouting to us to step back. For every step we were giving forward the soldiers would send us three steps back. We were at gunpoint all the time: from the soldiers in front of, from the left, from the right…never been like that before… never felt like that before! Felt so trapped, worst than being in a cage… its really hard to put it on words... couldn’t even think properly! And to get things worse, a family of 5 people just opened way throughout the crowd and the father faced the Israeli soldiers shouting something to them, they started shouting back at him and sending him to the queue. But he was not acceding to the soldier's orders, so they started pushing him with the riffles! Never experiences something similar and my heart started beating faster… I was just hoping that this wouldn’t start a random shooting, I was hoping that the man could just quit and go back to the line, which for the good of all he did soon after!
Squeezed against the people, under the sun, carrying all my stuff in my back, under gunpoint, tired and anxious I heard the soldiers shouting something loud! It was easy to understand by the people's reaction, the checkpoints were opening and all the people were running towards there. There the situation got slightly better, more organized and there was shadow! As soon as my turn was approaching I was feeling a mix of relief and anxiety. The only thing coming to my mind was the questionnaire in the airport, and that was making me nervous. And to be nervous in these situations doesn’t help, so I tried to be cool, remain calm! When my turn arrived, I thought on how I cope with my scientific presentations back in my work and I thought that I should do the same: look like a stone outside although inside all is trembling in the beginning. So there I was, walking like gentleman and trying to keep my pose. I told the soldiers that I speak English to what they smiled and shouted: "Good, finally!". I got quite surprised with the reaction; they caught me off guard… then they asked me where I come from and when I answered "Portugal" the conversation subject changed to football... Luis Figo this, Cristiano Ronaldo that… then I showed my bag and they got impressed with the LED flashlight I had. They offered me money for it, but I ended up giving it away to one of them (didn’t need it for me and don’t think I would use it anyway here)… they asked me what have I been doing in Nablus and they let me go after without even checking under my clothes, maybe it's one of the privileges of being a foreigner, or maybe with the conversation they just forgot! I was free to go and that was all that matters. It was a relief!!! So I waited for Munjid and we got in a new taxi and headed to Ramallah passing the same Passport control I passed when I came to Nablus. Until Ramallah there was no trouble and the city seems to be much calmer than Nablus and the situation is obviously better. We went directly to the bus station and Munjid told me to get a bus to Jerusalem and then from there to Telaviv and from there to Nazareth…well that was not the planned and I stressed out again… there was nobody waiting for me and now I had to go all the way to Nazareth with 2 stops and changing included. After 4 days in West Bank the thing that I wanted the least was to think and worry with these things, but life goes on and I should go on too. I said goodbye to Munjid got in the bus and we started the trip to Jerusalem. Soon after leavin Ramallah, we stopped at another checkpoint, had to get out of the bus, walked through the control corridor and catch the bus on the other side of the wall. This checkpoint was much more fortified and organizes than the one in Nablus, so everything went smoothly. I was starting to get used to the checkpoint stress, because by now I was not getting nervous at all. It was just one more routine task I had to do. That’s how they should be seen… a routine task to do, or else they get into your nerves and you go crazy!
After getting in the bus I went all the way to Jerusalem, the Holy City and there got a glance of the golden roof of the big Mosque in the center, but had no time to visit so got a cab service to Telaviv. There I got out, and went to the bus station where I had to be checked up again in order to be able to go in and realized that is was empty, dark and closed! Frustrated I went out and looked for a cab. Again a taxi driver tried to rip me and asked 350 shekels to go to Haifa. I made him a gesture as if he was crazy and left, so he shouted "300 shekels!", I didn’t even look back. Finally I got another service to Nazareth and I paid only 35 shekels!
One hour and something after I was safe in Nazareth, safe but not sound! This trip messed a lot with me… need time to settle now!

Thank you all

2006-09-26T09:01:00.000+02:00

Just to thank to all of you that have followed my life in this last weeks and gave me strenght and support to carry on. In some situations, your support and attention was more important that what you might think.

Thank you all once again!!!

ps - this is Nouni, the son of Rafat: my guide in Nablus. A 2.5 year old child smart like hell!

problems solved

2006-09-25T16:37:00.000+02:00

Today me and my boss talked, he appologized about yesterday... there was some misunderstanding between us regarding that, but all is ok now :)

SAFE BUT NOT SOUND after WB

2006-09-24T17:16:00.000+02:00

There is no words to describe that and the experiences...i hope i will have the chance to teel some of u personally...because its a matter for 9 hours in a row... i will try to make a more detailed update later this week...just leave you some hints now.... im too tired and just arrived to nazareth...hope you can understand.

Fucked up, fucked up and more fucked up! First two days in Selfid region distributing food in several villages...the situation is bad: not much food and/or resources... many cases... the apartheid wall, the soldiers siege... i heard all about it!
Next two days... Nablus!!!!!!!! Ok, the reality started here... passed my first two checkpoints to enter Nablus that is a city under siege... if i thought my heart went up in the airport...imagine here...u are always at israeli gunpoint....feel like animal... then got a cab to Nablus and the city is wonderful... distributed food there...the situation is much much much more worse... tell you later...people are so nervous there...i feel always under someones eye...had the chance to visit the old part of the city...i had afraid...after 18 oclock the locals said they couldnt protect me...
then there was a shooting very near my house on friday night...got it on tape...visited a shooting vicim in hospital...heard so many fucked up stories from eople...my god...
today was the time to come back...how i wanted to come back to my "boring" life in nazareth... was tired of having always 4 eyes one me and being always alert... got up at 6 am in Nablus...went through the checkpoint (i trembled like hell inside...always israeli soldiers are poiting guns at you from everywhere...) and gave my flashlight to the soldiers who checked me (sorry leo and yen but they were really nice and offered me 1 euro for it...how could i say no)... was done...then taxi again to Ramallah, but firt pass control... once in ramallah got a bus to jerusalem...but again...checkpoint! FUCKING CHECKPOINTS....THEY MAKE ME SO FUCKING NERVOUS...WEAPONS EVRYWHERE, CAMERAS, ISRAELIS SHOUTING AT PALESTINIANS AND VICE VERSA...it seems they are gonna start shoot anytime... anyway...arrive din Jerusalem after this... had to get a cab service to telaviv...spent 30 minutes in jerusalem... got in taxi and went to Telaviv... telaviv had to get another cab service to nazareth... got checked again in the bus statytion and came to nazareth...not before stopping in another city before my arrival...went directlly to the office and my boss got mad at me because the pictures are not good enough apparently... and they spernt so much money in the food packages! he said...

I WAS FUCKING RISKING MY ASS FOR 4 DAYS TO HEAR THIS... DOESNT FEEL GOOD!!!

By the way, got a lot of contacts so if anybody wants to go to palestine just tell me.

Go back to my capoeira today and is Ramadan here.... gonna eat like a pig tonight...just ate 3 chocolates in the hole day....

no fight, no fear...

2006-09-19T15:15:00.000+02:00

OK my friends...this is the time!

Tomorrow i will go to the West Bank... not only to distribute food, but to take pictures, and film the interviews with the people there.
Moreover: I will be living until next monday in some villages with some local palestinian people. i think I will not have the chance to go to the internet or to go to local markets and send fish by DHL... sorry to all if I disappoint you.

My "boss" in the NGO told me to keep away from IDF soldiers and Palestinian Armed Militia... so I minimize the chances to be caught in crossfire... dont know exactly what that means.... he told me (and everybody does around here) to be really carefull... I was adviced to fast in Ramadam (since it starts this saturday) not to raise suspicion between other people...

I will do my best and to you all thank you for the support given and keep on praying for me. I will need you all for the next 6 days...

Talk on monday...

Kisses and hughs

Joke of the day

2006-09-19T12:14:00.000+02:00

Ok, I am sorry to the person involved, but I think this is the best joke I heard since I arrived here and I have to share it. Note that this is a true story. Happened to me just 5 minutes ago:

I was in MSN and a friend from Portugal who is a PhD student in Marine Biology asked me if I could go to the Nablus market and send some fish through DHL to Portugal to him. He even told me that he would send me an email with the species list to order.... I don't find this normal at all, having in account that Nablus is one of the most problematic cities of the occupied territories and knowing that i am going there to ditribute a full truck of food among the refugee camps, and photo-video report the status of the poor families there...

Is it me or what?

more news...new lifestyle

2006-09-18T14:50:00.000+02:00

Nazareth, 15th September 2006
Woke up early and the day was getting warm… went to the office, checked my emails, turned my MSN on and had a glance on the headlines. Soon after, I went with Haytham for a tour in Nazareth. We started in the old historical part of the city. So we went to the main street, passed by the Annunciation Church and walked until Mary's Well. There we went up towards the Old Market. Narrow streets full of story and funny old houses that are dangerous by night. Once arrived there we went down through the market, full of people and many many shopping tents, passed by the Annunciation Church again and arrived to our starting point in the main street. Then we walked in the other direction until the limit of the city and went all the way up until the top of the hill. It was very hot by this time so we decided to go back to the office. The tour was made! Once in the office, I went to the ground floor and had my lunch: a kebab, juice and espresso.
In the afternoon I went with Iyad to take care of some stuff. We visited the place where hundreds of scientific books are kept until they are distributed across several Palestinian universities, picked up 3 huge bags full of new T-shirts with the LIFE logo and talked a lot about the planning of my next week. I was to be going to Nabulus for one week accompanying the food distribution team and write a report about it. For that I had to photograph and film both the distribution as well as the interviews to be made to around 15 Palestinian families. This is a very important task and it will take a lot of time and concentration from me because this material is to be used in fund raising initiatives.
After this we went back to the office and spent the next hours updating my report, since I have to write a daily detailed report of my experiences here. In the end of the afternoon I decided to go again through the city and sat in Bayat, a nice café near Mary's Well having a beer and writing my diary. One hour later I went home, wrote some more, had a shower and I was on my way out to Conte (internet café) when Ferrid (my landlord) and his family "caught" me and invited me to have dinner with them. Well, I couldn’t refuse so I went up to the third floor of my building and had dinner with him, his wife and his kids (3 daughters and 1 son). We talked watched television and then he invited me to join him to have a drink with his friends in some local café. I acceded and joined… had two glasses of Akran (50% alcoholic drink made in Rammallah) and went to pay a visit to the internet café. I finished my night in Alreda (a very nice café near the Annunciation Church (A.C.) where I met one of the waiters that gave me some nice tips about Nazareth.

Nazareth, 16th September 2006
Woke up at 13:00 feeling sick…I have a cold…and so I didn’t go to the office at 10:00 as expected. Anyway, had a shower, ate some fruit and headed to the office in the hope somebody would be there. As it is Saturday, by the time I arrived nobody was there. Had my typical lunch at the cafeteria and decided to discover the non-touristic Nazareth. So I headed to the Old market and soon I got lost in the narrow street labyrinth that is the old part of the town. It is nice to notice in some nice details of the houses and architecture of some buildings that date to some hundreds, maybe even more, of years…it was nice to imagine that one day, Jesus and its disciples were going through the same streets I am going now… one feels like part of it, part of history… then I entered again in the A.C. where finally I could see in more detail the cave where the supposed annunciation occurred, which disappointed me a bit I have to confess. Looks pretty much more spectacular from a greater distance, it's like an altar made for tourist photos…
After that decided to get lost again in the old market and started climbing the hill through the maze of narrow streets. Went all the way up under a blazing sun and saw a lot of cats and not much of people. All the streets look so similar and so different at the same time… it's amazing. Each street, each alley tells its own story. Once on the top I sat down a bit to recover my breath, admired the beautiful city of Nazareth from the top and went down again. Visited the Ortodox Church of Annunciation (which has the water spring that feeds Mary's Well) and although it is much more modest than the impressive C.A., I found it much more full of meaning and feelings. The rest of that afternoon I spent in Alreda writing in pieces of paper and drinking home made lemonade.
Went home shortly afterwards to play Capoeira and eat something. And as usual after that I went to the internet café and headed to Alreda again. That night was pretty nice because I ended up having a very nice conversation with Mohammed (the waiter of Alreda I met the night before) while smoking Argheella (sheesha) in a café near Mary's Well.

ARRIVAL NEWS יחךלيلتيبات

2006-09-14T14:50:00.000+02:00

The travel was being exhausting, but everything was going well. I was in the plane from Prag to Telaviv sitting near to a old Jewish couple emigrated in Canada that were returning to Israel for some reason. Shortly after the "free" meal served by the Check hostesses, we were flying over Telaviv. It was around 5 am and the view was just amazing…Lights everywhere in a city that spreads itself along the sea.
But soon the plane landed and the "nightmare" started. I got out of the plane and like all the other passengers I started walking towards the Baggage Claim area. But first I had to go through the Passport Control. I saw a free cabin with a strong lady sitting inside. I walked towards it, gave my passport and Visa so that that she could put a stamp on it and let me through. But noooooooo, it was not that easy! With the most inquisitive and suspicious look I ever seen in somebody (here I realized why that cabin was empty), she started staring at my passport, then me, then my passport again and then started shooting questions at me like if she was a heavy machine gun:
What do you want to do in Israel?
What are your plans?
What do you do in life?
Why don’t you have a hotel reservation?
Why do you come to Israel?
Do you have a VISA card?
How much money you have with you?
Why do you come alone?
How will you manage?
What did you do in Dubai and why did you go there?
I have to admit that this lady made me so nervous, that I could feel cold sweat in my hands and my heartbeat going up. My story to her was more or less the following: "I am a from Portugal and currently I am a PhD student in Germany that comes here as a Tourist and I intend to visit Telaviv, Nazareth, Jerusalem and Haifa if I have time. I don’t have a hotel booked and I intend to get a cab to Telaviv and then look for something since this time is not a good time to arrive in a hotel (5am). I don’t have money with me because I have credit and debit cards, and to my knowledge I can get money from the ATM's here with them, so there is no purpose in carrying lots of money with me. I come alone because in Europe it is a common way for young people to travel. I went to Dubai because I flew with emirates airlines to India and I took the chance to make a stopover there and visit the place."
But I guess this story was not good enough for her and she called some security guy and started talking in Hebrew to him. I didn’t understand but I guess I could take the meaning out of it and it seemed to me that the guy was telling her that it is ok and to let me go. She insisted and he took me to some other office… I started to get worried, but I told to myself not get nervous and to calm down. So I took a book from Oscar Wilde and started reading while I was waiting for somebody to come after my 2nd passport check. I was lucky I guess because the story in the book was indeed funny and when a man came to me with my passport in hands and started making me the same questions the inquisitive lady made me before I was steel cold and calm. I told him the same story and finally he gave me the passport and a 3 months visa and I could go through. I did go through the inquisitive lady again to show her that I had my visa. She was pissed I could see it. I was then going to get my backpack when another girl checked my passport and visa and started making me the same questions and added some more personal questions:
If you are a student how come do you have the money to come here?
And the time?
You really can afford to be here?
I told her the same (old by now) story about the European tourist and she let me go through. In the end I asked her which was the belt number of the place where I could get my luggage and she was actually quite nice and helpful. I went there and I never thought that seeing my orange big backpack again could make me so happy.
I am not aterrorist... have no bad intentions...I'm just a tourist...so why so much worries?
Finally I was out of this mess and I went towards the exit. There was a man standing and looking at all the passengers with a piece of paper with "Life for Relief and Development: LUIS SARAIVA" written on it. I thought it could be my taxi driver and I made him a sign with my hand. He nudged and for me that was the sign. We shaked hands and introduced myself. His name is Mahmoud. He is an Arab from Nazareth and we got along quite well. So we went all along the coast and then turned into the inner part of Israel in direction of Nazareth. In the middle of the journey we had a strong, hot coffee in a gas station and discussed gasoline prices and salary/cost-of-living differences between Europe and Israel. Once in Nazareth (a beautiful millenary city built on a top of a hill) he left me in my new house: a ground zero apartment with a big bedroom, a big living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. There was a very nice couple waiting for me who gave me the house key and provided me the first "car city tour". During the tour he left his wife in her job (she works as a teacher in a kindergarten) and then we proceeded all the way up to the top of the hill and finally he dropped me at my place so that I could get some sleep before meeting Mr. Iyad Suleiman (the Regional Coordinator of the Nazareth LIFE Office) that same day at 15:00.
I slept like an angel for 7 hours almost and woke up around 14:00, had a shower, prepared a tea and started writing my diary when the bell rang. It was Iyad! Finally I met him in person. We got into his car and we got directly to LIFE office in the city center. There he introduced me to Haytham and Sondos (the two other people working there) and we talked a bit about the To Do list for the coming days and week. Afterwards I didn’t do much… just met the building cafeteria people, made a car tour through the old part of the city where Iyad showed me some key places (monuments, internet café and Alreda, the café to meet other volunteers) and then he dropped me near the office. I walked home alone and went back to the city to buy some fruit and pay a visit to the net café. I tried to find Alreda, but as it was more far than what I thought, I quitted and went home. Did some Capoeira in the living room and went to bed. Had to wake up early the next morning.
What a day!

Love you all and don't worry

ps - my keyboard can write in arabic and hebrew. isnt that cool:
ק צקדצם כןסק
ث ةثسةخ بهءث

ps2 - to all the gramattic lovers i appologize because these keyboards give me a hard time and i dont have so much time to write so I will use written slang. hope you understand.

kisses and hughs

D DAY is today

2006-09-13T14:09:00.000+02:00

Ok, I am packing and leaving to the station to go to airport in 1 hour.

Love you all and thanks for the support messages and emails...

I will try to keep up to the expectations.

ps - thanks Lars for the Snooze and special kiss to Susana!

1 day to go

2006-09-12T15:08:00.000+02:00

1 day to go!

I leave tomorrow at 19.00 from Dusseldorf Airport. I fly with CSA airlines and I make a stop over in Prague to do the flight transfer to Tel-aviv. Have my flight ticket, my insurance, my backpack and my clothes almost ready. Still have to buy a passport cover this afternoon.
Almost fully prepared. Guess I have to go to the toilet a few times before I leave. HAte ready to use toilets... so have to wait until I am in my new home in Nazareth.

I guess I never told this before but the NGO with which i am going to work is called LIFE and you can find it here:
http://www.lifeusa.org/site/PageServer

As I expected I had a hard time after telling my parents that I am going to Israel... like many other they said I am crazy and so on, so on.... although in the end my mother really understood why I want to go and now I guess she takes it cool.

Big problem: as I fly on the 13th September (2 years and 2 days after the 9/11) there are threats from the al-Qaeda to Israel, so I guess I will spend quite a few hours in airport checking... It also helped the way my parents reacted to my news... Really bad timing... And today the bombing attempt to the US embassy... anyway... it doesn't matter!

One more thing: my mobile does not work and I am not taking it, so that means that I will go without a mobile, and please do not ask me again to buy one. Most of you call me 0 times a year, so i do not think you will fell the urge to call me in the next 3 weeks. This means, as always:

YOU DO NOT CONTACT ME, I CONTACT YOU! (that is why my phone bill is always so high...)

I give a final post tomorrow before I leave.

Ciao

2 days to go

2006-09-11T15:24:00.000+02:00

A lot has happened latelly... the ones who know me well know what I am talking about. A lot of emotions. A lot has happened...

Anyway, its not related to Israel or my trip. I will stick to it and try to update you all:

Yesterday I told my parents i am going to Israel. Their reactio was a mix of shock and understanding... anyway their start to get used to my ideas...

There will be a taxi waiting for me in the airport.

There will be someone in the house I will be staying in.

I will have access to computer and internet.

I will have no mobile (it is kaputt since last week...i guess couldn't handle the spanish heat)

2 days to go...

VIP visit/comment in my blog

2006-08-28T14:34:00.000+02:00

I have to admit I got quite surprised yesterday when i received a comment to my Hugo Chavez post from a lady called cindy. I logged into her blog and I found out that she is Cindy Sheehan... I got a comment from Cindy Sheehan!

Most of you probably don't know her... As described in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Sheehan):

"Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan (born July 10, 1957) is a resident of Berkeley, California [1] who became a prominent American anti-Iraq War activist after the death of her son, Casey Sheehan, during his service in Iraq. She attracted international attention in August 2005 for her extended demonstration at a peace camp outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch. She is sometimes referred to by the media as the "Peace Mom".[2]..."

She writes a blog as well that one should pay a visit:

http://cindy-sheehan.org/

There she is in the picture side by side with Mr Hugo Chavez!

Thank you Cindy for your visit! I am honoured and wish you the best of luck in your fight... I am solidary with your cause... and I am sorry for your loss...

Super(volunteer)man

2006-08-26T19:57:00.000+02:00

Well... I got news from Israel again... and that deserves a new post (it is my second today)!

Ok, the news I got are regarding my mission in Israel and the Palestinian territories... I got to know that is not a mission, but instead: 4 MISSIONS...

1. Taking photos with the volunteers distributing food packages in the WB and GS.
2. To know about the Palestinian NGOs in the WB and GS and also inside Israel (they have the title: Arabs 48)
3. To write a detailed report from the beginning to the end of your staying here.
4. To participate in some NGOs with their activities to know more about the Palestinian Society.

This seems a mission for Superman... let's see what happens...

Oh, and by the way: I will stay in Nazareth for what it seems... they are trying to get me a place not so far from the headquarters (whatever that means)...

Hugo Chavez Rulezzzzzzzzz

2006-08-26T16:49:00.000+02:00

Well... what can I say?

Hugo Chavez Rulezzzz!!!

1. Besides the fact that he is Preseident of Venezuela, I guess he was the only president in history to break his nose during his weekly football practice with friends... For that he rulezzzzzzzz

2. For the fact that he made an oil agreement with the energy hungry China, he rulezzzzzzzz

3. Because he causes good and decent oppositon to the USA in their attempt to control Cuba and South America governments he rulezzzzzzz

4. Because his government "had the balls" to accuse the US embassy in Caracas of importing cargo illegally - read as smuggling - he rulezzzzzzzz

5. Because he is friend and supporter of Muslim countries he rulezzzzzzzzz

6. And because, after this, my website will probably be under CIA supervision (or something like that...) he rulezzzzzzzzzzzz

Note: this has nothing to do with my trip to Israel, but i felt like saying it

Ciao

"Always on top" option ON

2006-08-23T15:57:00.000+02:00

Funny... it seems that somebody activated the "Allways on top" option for the Middle East in the "World Menu Bar".

Israel continues its "Killing Spree"... now that they are "done" with Lebanon, they turn their attention to the Palestinian Occupied Territories and their respective political forces... They charge Hamas political leaders, (re)invade the Gaza Strip, kill more one or two militants and destroy 10 or 15 more buildings and/or farms (along with civilians)... They do what they want!

On the other side, the Palestinian "terrorists" kidnap one or two more reporters and/aid workers... make demands... throw one or two more shells to Israel... They seem to do what they want as well...

All make demands... all have the right to demand a piece of the Holy Land... all kill some people... all loose some of their own people... so, in the end what is the difference?

Who is right? Who is wrong?

Who cares anyway? Nobody seems to care... Only the media care! Oh yes, they DO CARE!

"Gaza this, West Bank that... Israel this, Lebanon that... Palestinian this, Muslims that..."

And because nothing of "very exciting" (you should read: mass civilian and/or other people category killing because I feel that I have a cause to defend... and this is always a good excuse) is going on in Europe and US, they Media shell us for 2 days in a row with the UK terror plot, or planes being escorted by F16's back to Amsterdam (after all we have to use our military equipment before it gets rusty without having tasted a few rides, no?)... or even still about Iran's nuclear programme (oh... this is not Western World anymore...)...

Ah... I almost forgot: in the meantime, Amnesty International is accusing Israel of commiting warcrimes! Funny thing, because while they are happning they didn't seem to care. How about Hezbollah? Ah, because they are "terrorists" they can not be accused of anything... again funny hein?

Oh... and "The Holy Jihad Brigades" told USA that if they want the 2 Fox journalists to be released, they should free detained Muslims in the US...
Well... I don't really think that this won't work. Only when they target and succed to kidnap valluable enough people to the US ther demands will be listened and taken serious... until then I wish all the luck to the abducted innocent foreign people that go to Middle East either to work or help their own people...

Bahhhhh... this sucks.... sucks HARD!!!!

At least a few are still trying to do something to help the poor people who are left behind!!!

Praise those... talk more about those!!! Be more like those!!!

Miscellaneous & FAQ's

2006-08-18T13:26:00.000+02:00

Hello all!

I will try to clear some doubts and comment some "stuff" some of you told me latelly:

1. This blog is written by me (the guy in the upper right corner is me as well),

2. It will be the tool I will use to keep the interested people updated on my situation during my volunteering,

3. I am going to Israel and the volunteering missions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (Cisjordânia in Portuguese),

4. My parents do NOT KNOW that I am going, so please do not tell them (!),

5. This is not intended to be a professional report or an edited book,
a) although spelling critics are welcome, I won't further edit this blog
b) so the ones who are reading it just to find spelling erros are not wasting their time, because I am sure they will find a few...

6. This is supposed to be a blog about my trip and my thoughts concerning it,
a) although sometimes it might seem repetitive and inconsistent, I don't care because only the really interested people will read carefully and try to understand what I mean
b) again I remind you that this is NOT a newspaper NEITHER a book edited and published by some fancy Editorial company, so... understand this and get a life

7. NO, this trip of mine its not a "cinematographic adventure that I am trying to live inside my head", because for that I would just let my imagination work (thing that I am quite good at),

8. I guess that the Title and Subtitle of the blog are quite specific about the dates of both my departure and arrival, so please don't ask it again to me,

9. Any further questions?

Greetings to all the readers and a big THANK YOU for the people who are giving me strength and encouragement!

My Ivory Tower

2006-08-16T15:27:00.000+02:00

I've been thinking a lot (as usual) and I reached to the marvelous conclusion that, maybe (and just maybe) this "going to Israel thing" is after nothing more than my Ivory Tower...

To abdicate of all my priorities, give up of all my objectives in pursuit of a greater good... achieve a higher level, complete my noble task. Maybe because I have always been a bit of a "selfish pig" during all my life, I feel the necessity of once in my lifetime to forget about my name, my personality, my aims, my thoughts... in the end to forget about myself.
Maybe after all I just want to test myself, to defy life because i love to live. I am too eager on living to the fully and fully means everything... and everything is impossible, so I want to try a bit of all.
Maybe I just want to row against the tide, against everybody and everything.
Maybe I don't want to realize for what I am going... or maybe I do!
Maybe I already did!

I thought about everything, about all the possible and imaginary reasons that made me take this decision and just go there without looking back or think in the ones I leave behind me. It came to my mind a wide range of reasons:

To loose my identity, not to be recognized by my name, my ancestors, my job, my life...
To be one more in the crowd, part of a number and hopefully not part of the statistics.
To be there just to help others, to be there just for the others...
To be there without having even time for me!
To be 100% altruist once in my life.
To reallize how life is outside the the silk pink curtains...
To see with my own eyes.
To experience.
To save somebody...
To feel the fear.
To have flashlight thoughts...
To escape death.
To be there...
To live.
To give even more value to life.
To want to live even more!
To realize that life is a gift that is worth more than some risks I might take...

To be once again a "selfish pig" with a pure altruist aim...

I don't know... and I think... even better: I am sure! I am sure that the only possible answer to this questions will come to my mind after I have been there. After I lived, after I have experienced... That's why I have to go.

It is my Ivory Tower. MY IVORY TOWER!

Sleeping place update

2006-08-15T21:07:00.000+02:00

OK! This is the high point of my day! After some really boring stuff (like boring work to do) and some incursion through the shopping street in the center (oh yes I bough another light pair of cargos) I decided to send an email to my contact in Israel to see if he answers me this time. Well it seems he is still alive and kicking and he told me that he will be waiting for me in the airport (which is a good thing) and that I will be staying in Nazareth (while my stay in Israel) and in some other NGO offices while I am in the West Bank. He told me as well that my authorization to enter Gaza is still not ready and that the insurance they have to me does not cover the WB (West Bank) and GS (Gaza Strip). He told me they will prepare one more insurance to me from the Palestinian authorities, which means that I will be secured three times!!!!

HAHAHAHA

Well, that is all for today!!!

Less than one month to go and I am SO FUC**** EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Booked my flight and got a PRESENT!

2006-08-15T00:37:00.000+02:00

Well... today was a hell of a day! First of all I overslept (as usual) and just arrived at work at noon. Until here nothing new, except for the fact that my lab mate and friend - Miss Kwan - was absent most of the afternoon. Anyway, I did the usual stuff (checked my email, read the news, worked a bit) and went to have lunch with a Diploma student i am mentoring now. My favourite pizza places were closed so I went to a Doener Shop right in front of my institute and bought a "stück pizza" (this means a oily piece of pizza) for 1€. I ate it and then went directly to the travel agency: I had to buy my flight ticket to Tel-aviv, because it was the second time I had it reserved... Once there the lady told me that they cancelled my reservation (again). It seems I had my ticket reserved until last friday only. So she had to do it again and finally I bought the ticket, or better I payed for half of the ticket. The other half just in two weeks, once I get the September salary. This student life will never end...

Anyway, now it is official. If there were still some doubts, now they are gone!!! I BOUGHT MY TICKET!!!

Today was as well the cease fire day between Israel and Lebanon/Hezbollah. Partial it seems. It is really hard to keep the guns quiet over there...

In the meantime in Gaza city, two journalists from Fox news were abducted by Palestinians. It is funny that in a day were only positive things were happening, this had to happen... It does not scare me though! It is something that only happens to other people until the day it happens to us. It is just like the "dying thing", we all think: "I am imortal and nobody can convince me I am going to die. Even if a missile blows 5 meters from me i can run to that piece of shelter or by a miracle I will survive. death is not meant to me!"

Although I kind of think in this way like all the others, I am conscient that I can in fact die (but I can die over here in Cologne as well). But I do not care... I lived my life to the maximum until now and anyway I wouldn't feel it, would I (at least I think so... and nobody can really tell, because the ones that know are all dead)?

[Sexy Back from Justin Timberlake is on TV... "Dirty babe....yeah baby yeah..." hahaha]

Going back to what its importan and to the second part of the title of this post: THE PRESENT!
I got a present today! That's why Miss Kwan was absent. She and Leo (my flat mate) went to the center of Cologne and bought me a Diary Book, a book marker and... a flashlight!!! It will come in handy when I am trying to escape during the night to some hot pursuit or something like that: "Hey guys I am trying to escape in some hypothetical hot pursuit, but I have to have my flashlight on because it was a present! So give me a break!"

The fact is that I loved the presents. The diary is fuc**ng nice! Its golden imitating an old book in homenage to V. van Gogh!!! They even started writing for me. It says:

"August 14th,

I was late again. As always Monday morning. Told myself over and over again not to be sleeping like a pig, but still I AM THE PIG (and they drew a pig, so here imagine a pig).
My eyes are swallow and maybe I was wearing a wrong pair of socks, a blue with an orange. I drunk the tea Leo made, which was already cold. By the time I reached the lab Leo and Yen had gone to Mensa (german for Canteen), shit I was late again..."

Funny guys they are, hein? FU*KI*G FUNNY!!!!

Anyway, I loved these presents and they mean a lot to me :D Thank U GUYS ;)

And that was it for today... Oh, no... I forgot to tell that I will make an insurance as well for 30€ (they give me 5000€ in case of death and 50000 in case of I become a cripple).

My mission/tasks overthere

2006-08-11T12:08:00.000+02:00

So... because so many people asked me what the hell am I going to do there, I will try to explain. Have in mind though that these details are not 100% accurate and I just contacted with the office representative in Israel by email.

I was "assigned" by these office, that took into account my qualifications (i guess), to distribute food, give counselling to the population on the agricultural recuperation and be the responsible for making both the photographic and written reports of the mission.

Now, more questions should be rising in your heads, such like: Will you work alone? How often will you do it? Will you go in a team? In a convoy?

The answer to this questions is: I do not know. I do not have a clue... and to tell the truth I do not care about it right now. No I just want to go and do what is needed once I am in the field!

Doubts

2006-08-10T12:13:00.000+02:00

OK, so the decision was mine!

I am sure I want to go. I WILL go!

...and it was when, all the words from my friends and my brother came to my mind... after all I could get killed out there... something could happen: loose a limb, being kidnapped, get shot, break a bone... whatever, just name it and it could happen!!!! It can happen.

Here I started asking myself if it was really worth it... I had so many people asking me not to go... Am I that important for so "many" people? I think that the world can afford to loose me (in case shit happens). After all, nobody is unreplaceable! Or maybe I am after all. At least for some people. How would my family react if something happens... how would they live (specially my mother)??? Loosing a son in my circumstances...
No! I can't go!!! I can´t let a tragedy happen. I should keep myself safe and sound in Germany and do my Phd, carry on doing sports, going out at night...

And these thoughts were like a snowball for one whole long day! They can consume a person... and the more I thought about the possibility of not going the more I felt bad with myself. Bad, really really bad! Strange thing, hein?

No, no and NO! I have to go. That's what I have to do. That is what i feel like doing. That is what my "will says" me to do. So I stepped out of my seat and went to the travel agency and reserved the flight with the new dates. It was done! I am going. No turning back. No more doubts anymore. Just look straight ahead and go. And it feels so good. It gives me such a peace... and I am not scared, I am not afraid... instead I have a very good feeling about it!

I don't know wether this has some sort of "divine intervention", and I am not religious at all. I am a bit mystic and I really feel that this will change my life forever... I feel that something important to me will happen in the period I will be there. I feel that if I don't go, I will never reach as high in my life as I should... Maybe its fate, maybe it's not...

Only future can tell

Where will I stay, where will I go...

2006-08-10T11:39:00.000+02:00

Israel,

That's the place where I will be staying... Directly under the A from "Israel" (if you can see it), is where Nazareth is located, the place where (I think) I will be staying. I guess its from there that I will be departing and arriving to my missions in Gaza Strip and West Bank (zones marked in red)

Nazareth,

This is a view from Nazareth and the hypothetical place (yellow kind of dot) where I will be staying. Its a city with around 60,000 inhabitants and its at the same latitude as Haifa (coastal city that has been recently bombed by Hezbollah). My contact in Nazareth told me that recently there was some shelling recently near Nazareth.

All this was not to give some Geography lesson to you, but to say to you that I am fully aware of the dangers of the places, both where I will be staying and where I will be going. i know that there is a risk, but so what? Risks you can find anywhere... and this should not be a reason to quit pursuing a "dream"...

And by the way: Thank you Google Earth!

...VOLUNTEER!

2006-08-09T18:30:00.000+02:00

So... I was going to do it!

I repeated to myself 1000 times:

"I am going to do it!"

I was fu**ing going to do it!!!

I didn't know whether I should be happy, sad, excited, or whatever... The fact is that I didn't know... I couln't answer to the question: why am I doing it. It didn't matter at the time, because I had to prepare the ground now!

First I had to interiorize the idea (which I already did by then), then reserve a flight, then get permission from my boss and then finally GO!

To resume: I got the "acceptance" in a thursday (27th July) and my boss would come from holiday only one week later more or less... Damn! That's along time for wait for such a thing...

Anyway, I was decided to go, so I started preparing the ground. I downloaded the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross - www.icrc.org) "STAYING ALIVE - Safety and security guidelines for humanitarian volunteers in conflict areas" written by David Lloyd Roberts, started reading all the news and facts about Israel, Palestinian Occupied territories and everything that has to do with the subject.

Next monday I went to reserve a flight to Tel-aviv. It was funny, because the girl that took care of my booking in the Travel agency made a really strange face when I said: "...to Tel-aviv this September". But she didn't ask why, although in her face one could really see the curiosity.
By then I started telling to my brother and some of my friends as well. That turned out to be the more difficult task of all the preparation phase.

I got all kids of disencouragements from them, like:
"You are FU**ING CRAZY! WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO THERE?"
"IF YOU WANT TO DO VOLUNTEER JUST GO TO AFRICA AND HELP FIGHTING HUNGER!"
"YOU GOING TO PAY FOR A FLIGHT TO KILL YOURSELF! THATS CALLED SUICIDE!"
"DO YOU REALIZE HOW THE SITUATION IS THERE?!?!"

Except for 4 of my friends, all the rest gave similar answers. This fact is not surprising, and I have to admit that it felt really good to realize that there are so many people around you that love you and just wish all the best for you.
This other 4 friends understood me and I didn't even need to tell my reasons to them. They told them to me instead. I guess they know me well and feel the same way I do. was good to feel that "connection/telepathy" as well.

All this is a very nice story until now and I was already dreaming all the time in going... in being there... But the key piece of the puzzle was still missing. I had to have the approval of my boss. Well, my expectation was that she would let me go. She is the best boss in the world!

So I waited for her arrival from USA, and the day she came to the lab she came immediatelly to me so I could update her about my work development in the time she was absent. I did that, but my mind was in a completelly different subject. Anyway I had to remain in the ground and give time to time. I would ask her later... after our work discussion... But well, the discussion was over and she went to her ofice. I chocked and couldn't ask her... I didn´t know how to adress the issue. So i wlked back and forth in the corridor and finally I went to her lab and asked her:

"Can I speak with you for 5 minutes? I want your opinion first as a boss and then as a friend..."

And then, after that all the conversation went smoothly until she told me:

"Well... Oooooooooooooooooooook! But just for 3 weeks!" and smiled.

I smiled as well, but at the same time, if there was still something until that moment that could stop me to go, now it was vanished. From now on I was on my own!

The decision was mine and only mine!

I WILL BE A VOLUNTEER IN ISRAEL, GAZA AND THE WEST BANK!!!!

To volunteer or not to volunteer?

2006-08-09T17:25:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time....

About two weeks ago I was working in my lab (a convencional Genetics lab) and I thought about a desire that was born 4 years ago while I was doing my Biology Diploma in Portugal.

I wanted to do a Volunteer mission!

I tried in the past to look for a "decent" NGO (Non-Governamental Organization) or organization and tried to contact them, but I don't know why, the websites from this organizations are always so complicated. Except for the DONATION link, for all the other types of info, specially Volunteering, you almost need a GPS!

Anyway, and going back to my lab and to my desire, I decided to do it again, although with very less hope to get an answer, at least a "decent" one... so I sent a few emails to some NGO's hoping that I will get a reply. And guess what! For my entire surprise, I got a answer from the central office of one of these organizations. The interesting part says:

"[...]Thank you for contacting XXXX (i won't cite the name of the NGO for a lot of different obvious reasons...) expressing your interest in helping others.

Please contact our XXXX office nearest to your locality. They would be best suited to determine what ways you can help. See attached file for XXXX offices locations and contact information. Please mention to them what languages you are fluent as well is if you are skilled in photography, filming, or graphic design[...]"

So I downloaded the attachment with the adresses of the several offices, but unfortunatelly the closest office to me was in Dubai. So I decided to contact all of them. Once again, and to my surprise, I got a quick answer (in 1 day)! It said:

"Dear Luis (yes it is my real name),
We delighted to host you in our office in Palestine, West Bank and Gaza strip, We will need to take photos in many places especially distributing food packages, and visit houses of needy families.
Regards
[...]"

I couldn't believe it! I could really do a volunteering mission now! It was a real one it seemed! And a dangerous one by the way... Maybe I asked for it, because my email to the several offices was:

"To whom it may concern:

Hello!

My name is Luis XXXX, I am 25, come from Portugal but I am currently getting my PhD degree in Genetics in Germany.

A few days ago I contacted Mr XXXX and he instructed me to contact one of the XXXX offices. I decided to contact yours because it’s the “closest” to germany.

I am fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, English and can speak German and French as well. I have some experience in photography, and I have as hobbies moutaneering, climbing, xxx and practicing xxx arts.

I would like to do some volunteering work anywhere and in any circumstance and would be most interested in working in some refugee camp or some war zone.

Could you send me more detailed information about possible volunteering missions in this situations?

Hope to hear from you soon!"

Anyway, I was going to do it! I was decided and I was going to do it!

I was finally going to do it!!!!